Perth: In the Heart of Scotland

Once Scotland’s capital and only two miles from the Palace Of Scone, where from 838AD Scottish monarchs traditionally were invested, Perth is nowadays a small, busy, safe and perhaps surprisingly cosmopolitan city of around 50,000 people, just 50 miles north of Edinburgh and in a superb position in a lush valley, on the banks of the country’s longest river, the Tay.

The city is a major regional centre, market town, and a hub of the financial industry, with a wide range of shops, arts and entertainments, sports and leisure activities, cafés, pubs, nightclubs and restaurants - it’s a widely recognised culinary centre – as well as elegant Georgian architecture, cobbled streets, historical sites, and lovely parks and gardens.

The surrounding 2,000 square miles (3218 sq.kms) of Perthshire is largely rural and also very beautiful, peppered with castles, traces of the Pictish and Roman past, pretty villages and picturesque landscapes – frequently stunning in the spring and autumn - and the whole range of outdoor pursuits, including everything from golf and fishing, to walking, riding, cycling, cliff jumping and microlight flying.

Perth is often referred to as ‘the Gateway to the Highlands’, and is on the doorstep of one of Europe’s most significant wilderness areas, with breathtaking mountains, moors, lochs and forests, and mountain sports like climbing and skiing. The city also has excellent transport connections with the rest of Scotland, with major road and rail links, and is only 45 minutes away from Edinburgh Airport, and thence the rest of the UK, Europe and beyond. It’s a small city, with a lot to offer.